Publication: THE CHARLESTON GAZETTE
Published: 02/20/2004
Byline: CHRIS WETTERICH
chriswetterich@wvgazette.com

West Virginia business, labor, academic and political leaders got together Thursday to figure out how the state can adapt to an increasingly competitive and global business climate that has caused the state to shed jobs and money in recent years.

The Southern Growth Policies Board, a North Carolina-based organization dedicated to positioning the South to prosper in a global economy, organized the three-hour session at the Capitol.

The goal of the group, which will hold future meetings, is to come up with a plan for the state to deal with the trend. The plan could include legislative proposals.

"We've got to reduce the fear factor of globalization," said Sen. Brooks McCabe, D-Kanawha, who helped organize the meeting.

After breaking into small groups, the two dozen panelists agreed that the United States was at a disadvantage when it came to health, environmental and labor standards compared with less developed foreign countries.

Generally, the panel also said that job losses in the country and the state were linked to globalization. Over the last several decades, West Virginia has lost thousands of jobs in steel, coal and chemicals, once the state's most robust industries.

One panel member pointed to the loss of high-tech computer jobs, once thought to be high-paying and safe, to foreign countries such as India.

"A degree in computer science isn't such a hot prospect anymore," said Carl Erwin of West Virginia University, who studies industries of the future.

Some panelists also pointed out that there were advantages to increasing globalization, including the opening of new foreign markets to American goods and increased cultural diversity in business.

One problem identified with seizing the initiative in globalization is that American business is not very adept at discovering the opportunities in exporting goods overseas.

"We have a passive approach," said John Maher, head of the Chemical Alliance Zone. "We're not really in touch with what's going on in Malaysia or China."

Another issue debated was whether the United States and West Virginia needed to lower regulatory standards or make other countries live up to the ones here.

"We don't want to lower our standards to China," said Ken Perdue of the AFL-CIO. "We've been there and done that."

Business leaders were not so sure, although they stopped far short of calling for a major rollback in regulations. Some said West Virginia's regulations were more of a problem than federal regulations.

"I think we need to look at [the regulations] and make sure they're not self-defeating," said Bill Raney, president of the West Virginia Coal Association.

Others suggested that there were ways to increase standards in other countries by enforcing unused provisions in international trade agreements.

Raney added that he thought Environmental Protection Agency air quality standards give an unfair advantage to western states over states in the East.

McCabe said he hoped the group will show West Virginia's industries, such as chemicals, steel and coal, how to exploit their advantages. He pointed to the chemical industry, which has had to focus increasingly on more rare and specialized chemicals to remain afloat.

"This is about taking basic industries and driving them toward the future," he said. "We've got to find our niche."

To contact staff writer Chris Wetterich, use e-mail or call 348-3023.